Medu Vada are crisp, fried, doughnut-shaped fritters made from black gram (urad dal) batter mixed with herbs and spices. Also known as Garelu in Andhra, Uzhunnu Vada in Kerala, Uddina Vada in Karnataka, and Medhu Vadai or Ulundu Vadai in Tamil Nadu. Traditionally they are always served with sambar and coconut chutney.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 270 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 310 minutes
  • Yield: 14 · 14 Vada
  • Category: Breakfast, Snacks
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup or (200 grams) urad dal ((hulled & split or whole hulled black gram))
  • 2½ to 3 cups water (– for soaking lentils)
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons water (– or as needed, for grinding or blending lentils)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns (– whole or crushed)
  • 1 tablespoon or 7 to 8 curry leaves (– chopped)
  • ⅓ cup onions (– finely chopped, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon or or 1 to 2 green chilies (– chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (– finely chopped)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing), optional)
  • ¼ cup coconut (– chopped, optional)
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (– chopped, optional)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or add according to taste)
  • oil (– for deep frying, as needed)

Method

Making Vada Batter

  1. Rinse urad dal a couple of times in fresh water. Then soak the lentils for 4 hours or overnight.
  2. Grind or blend the soaked lentils to a smooth batter with water.
  3. If the batter becomes watery, then the instant relief would be to add some semolina or urad dal flour or rice flour to it.
  4. Add all the spices, herbs and salt. Mix well.
  5. Take a bowl of water. Apply some water from the bowl on both your palms. Take some batter in your right hand from the bowl. Give it a round shape by moving it around.
  6. With your thumb make a hole in the center. You can also use banana leaves or ziplock bags to give the medu vada its donut shape.

Making Medu Vada

  1. In a kadai (wok) or pan heat oil for deep frying. Keep the heat to medium.
  2. Once the oil becomes hot, slid the vada gently and carefully into the hot oil.
  3. Shape the batter this way and gently slid them in the oil. Don't overcrowd the kadai or pan with the vada.
  4. Once the vada is slightly golden then gently turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.
  5. Fry them till crisp and golden. The oil should be not very hot, but medium hot. You want the vadas to be cooked from inside. A very hot oil will quickly brown the vadas from outside but they will remain uncooked from inside. Less hot oil will make the medu vada to absorb too much oil. Even if the batter is thin then too the medu vadas will absorb too much oil.
  6. Fry all the medu vada this way till they become evenly browned and crisp.
  7. Drain them on kitchen tissue to remove excess oil. Similarly fry remaining batches of medu vada with the batter.Any leftover batter can be refrigerated for about a day. Let the chilled batter come to room temperature before frying.
  8. Serve the medhu vadai, hot or warm with sambar and coconut chutney. Medu vada can also be served with other dips like mint chutney, coriander chutney, tomato sauce or onion chutney, tomato chutney etc.
  9. One of the best combination is sambar vada where these medu vadai are dunked in piping hot sambar and served with a side of coconut chutney. This vada sambar meal is finished with steaming hot filter coffee.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.